Onyx Storm/Book 4 theory
Theory: What if Andarna bonded Xaden at the end of Onyx Storm?
Okay, hear me out. What if Andarna bonded Xaden during Violet’s missing twelve hours, and Violet doesn’t remember it because she had Imogen erase her memories?
At the end of Xaden’s POV, he thinks “she promised to help.” The obvious interpretation is Violet—but what if Andarna also promised to help him?
There are a few things making me suspicious:
Leothan specifically says Andarna is “fond” of Xaden. That’s an interesting detail considering we haven’t seen much of their relationship directly.
Near the ending, Andarna says “I won’t let them burn you.” We assume she’s speaking to Violet, but Violet also notices movement in the shadows to her right around this scene. What if Xaden is there and Andarna is actually speaking to him? “Burn” would be particularly meaningful now that Xaden is venin.
Throughout Onyx Storm, Andarna repeatedly talks about “every possible path.” What if she’s been looking for a path that saves Xaden?
Violet already proves that normal bonding rules aren’t absolute: one rider can bond two dragons. What if irids can do the reverse—one dragon can bond two riders?
Andarna has known Xaden since Fourth Wing. She’s watched him protect Violet, protect Andarna’s secrets, fight at Resson, and eventually sacrifice himself at Basgiath. So if she chooses him, it wouldn’t simply be because Violet asked. Andarna has had three books to decide for herself that Xaden is worth saving.
Most importantly, the missing twelve hours are the perfect place to hide a second bond from the reader. We already know major things happened during that period: Violet and Xaden married, Violet arranged to lose her memories, Xaden left, Garrick disappeared, etc. What else don’t we remember?
What if that’s why some of the mental communication at the end seems ambiguous? If Andarna is now bonded to both Violet and Xaden, the three of them may have a new mental connection.
It could also eventually be part of the venin cure. Venin take power directly from the source, while riders receive power through their dragons. Maybe an irid bond gives Xaden another connection to magic—or helps sever/stabilize his connection to the source.
So maybe “I won’t let them burn you” wasn’t Andarna protecting Violet.
Maybe it was Andarna making her first promise to her new rider.
And if Book 4 reveals that Andarna chose Xaden not because Violet asked her to, but because she independently decided he was worth saving. Thoughts?